Summer School

As we are winding down our kindergarten year of school I am already thinking about summer and first grade. I want to continue teaching our kids and them to keep learning and not have to start off the year with a month of review before we can start new material. I also don't want them to resent homeschool either. Sunday at church they were talking about the end of school and summer time. Timothy and Parker were very vocal about being homeschooled and they have to keep having school in the summer time. At home they have been asking me why they don't get a summer break like the "big kids". I don't want them to resent our time or our schooling. I just need to change how we talk about summer school and make sure that we have plenty of fun too. I also want them to look forward to going back to school in the fall to start 1st grade. I have so many wants for our "school life" at times it seems like a mountain, but yet it is a mountain I want to continue to climb.

So, for this week, we will have some summer school on Friday. We will read together in the meantime. Next week, we will just have to wait and see. I think for summer, we will take it one week, maybe even one day at a time!

A Victory

Somedays I wonder how long I can homeschool. How long can I keep struggling with Tim. I pray and ask God to give me the strength and the words to say. When it was time to start school today, Timothy cried... he didn't want to do school, but of course that is not an option.

We first did the phonics and reading book... the one he seems to hate the most. It was a short lesson today and at the end, he wanted to do more and I told him he could. He did two more pages BECAUSE HE WANTED TO!!! Then handwriting was next. He had to do two pages. While I was reading with Parker, he did the two pages and then did four more pages... BECAUSE HE WANTED TO!!! He was soo excited to show me his extra work that he did and had done well. Today is a day to praise and thank God for the small things.

Honor God With Our Bodies!

1 Corinthians chapter 6 says, “ Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God? You don’t belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

There are many ways to honor God with our bodies.  One way our family chooses to honor God is by eating healthy, wholesome food. I am by no means saying we never eat fast food or junk, because we do. We just try really hard to do so in moderation. I try to make it a habit to cook real food out of real ingredients 3-5 times a week.  This leaves room for leftovers and for quicker “processed” meals.  I think it is our responsibility to take care of the bodies God has given us. Our bodies were bought at a high price when Jesus died on the cross and it is the least I can do to give my family real food with as little preservatives as possible.

Last night I made a quick homemade pizza. It took about 20 minutes of prep time and then 20-25 minutes of cooking time. This is no longer than it takes to order and have pizza delivered.

The crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
Mix the dry ingredients and the add the wet ingredients. Mix together and knead until well blended. Spread/roll out
on large pizza pan.  

I added a couple of tablespoons of Italian seasoning for flavor... yummy.

We then covered the pizza with jarred spaghetti sauce and our favorite toppings.  Cheese, ham, fresh pineapple, garlic, sliced tomatoes and baby spinach. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

           

 The result, a yummy, filling semi-homemade pizza with less perservatives and stuff than your frozen or take out pizza. And, it was fun to make... just ask my kids :-)

It Takes A Great Effort!

At times homeschooling takes a great effort... on my part. In the year leading up to starting school, I just knew that Parker would be difficult. He has what we call a little "crazy" streak in him. He has ants in his pants. I knew I would have a hard time getting him to sit still and to stay focused and on task. I knew we would have battles and that he might actually hate school.

I was wrong. Parker has been an exceptional student and loves our school time.

It is Timothy. Timothy is the one who hates school. Who at some point in every school day cries. He says the work is hard and sits there refusing to do it. He plays with his pencil or his eraser, constantly twisting and turning in his seat. The thing is, he can do the work. A lot of times he know the answers before Parker. On the rare days when he puts forth focus and effort, he finishes his work before Parker and has good handwriting. The problem is those days are few and far between. It leaves him and me feeling aggravated and discouraged. I have prayed and cried over what I think is best for him. Should I put him in public school? Should I repeat kindergarten work with him so it will be easier next year?

I have always known that I wanted to homeschool our children. Public school has never been an option for us, from before they were born. To put them in public school would be disobedience to God since this is what I know He wants for our family and it would be me giving up not only on my self but Timothy also just because it is hard.

I have decided that it is okay for it to be hard and for some days to be really hard. I have decided to put forth the effort to not yell at him or get aggravated when it takes him three hours to do one hour of work. As emotionally draining as it is to do the right thing. I tell him over and over and over how smart he is and that I love him. When he starts to cry, I hug him and tell him it is okay to be sad but that I know he can do this work. And when he is done we celebrate and I remind him that I knew all along he could do it or I wouldn't have asked him to.

I pray that my great effort to love and encourage him and my great effort to not yell at him pays off. That with time he will develop confidence in school and learn to love learning. I pray that I am able to help him develop his strengths of creativity as he learns to write and draw. I know that if I continue to give this great effort my children will know what they need to know but each be able to grow in their own areas of interest and individuality. I am thankful to God that we are able to homeschool our children. It is a privilege and I don't
want to miss the small miracles and accomplishments of each day!

Blooming???

I love springtime! Everything is new and fresh. Things are coming alive, the colors are vibrant. Flowers are blooming. The air is fragrant. I wonder why my life can’ be like that all of the time...

Just like each year goes through seasons, I have come to the conclusion that my life goes through seasons. There are seasons like spring and summer with intense growth and vibrancy and then there are seasons like winter and fall where my growth is dormant. Oh, how I long for and hope for my life to be spring and summer all of the time, but the reality is, it is not. I have recently been in a dormant state. I have been busy and often overwhelmed with life and just doing stuff that I have not allowed myself to continue growing. I know without a shadow of a doubt what God wants from me but because of my dormant growth, I have produced nothing.

As I realize this, I am saddened that I have allowed myself into this state, but encouraged because after a plant has been dormant, when it awakens to the light and warmth of the sun it experienced extreme and rapid growth. This is my prayer... I want to awaken to the light and warmth of my Lord and experience extreme and rapid growth. I want to bloom, I want to produce the fruit that God has made me to produce. I think blooming for God is going to be exciting :-)

This is the kind of day I live for!

Today has been a great day! As a mom, this is the kind of day I live for! The kids have been wonderful; they have played so good together. They have been using their imagination. They have not been fighting at all. There has been no disobedience. No time outs, no yelling... from neither me nor the kids. We have played and cleaned and watched a movie. This is definitely a winner in the mom book!

Thank you Jesus for this day! I pray for my children to begin to understand that obedience and good behavior make for really good and fun days. Let me also understand that obedience to you leads to a peaceful life. Give me all that I need each day to be the mother and wife you would have me to be. It is a pleasure and a privilege to live for you! I love you Lord. Amen

Realizations!

Today we are finishing our 1st math book in homeschool. This year there have been good times and bad times. I realize that we have learned a lot this year. The boys can read, they can add and subtract single digits, they can somewhat tell time. They can write short sentences by themselves.  They get to learn where I know they are safe and protected from so many things that I am not ready for them to be exposed to.  The commitment for me is huge and I can't make a "forever" commitment for homeschool, but I am in for another year! 1st grade... Here we come!